We are back with another ‘Friday The 13th’ review this week. The franchise that spawned off nine sequels, one spin-off title, television series, and a reboot film brings to us ‘Friday The 13th Part 3’ in 3-D. This film came close to matching the originals box office total gross at $36 million dollars based off of $2.5 million dollar budget.

For those of us that saw the film over the years without having seen it in 3-D, there are a lot of awkward looking scenes. Many of the scenes had particular items like a post looking like its ready to poke out of the screen, a machete coming at you, lettering that looked as if it were popping off the screen, amongst many other scenes. These scenes have always been distracting while watching this film, but I have learned to ignore them over time.

The film begins with Chris (Dana Kimmell), going on a road trip with her friends to the family’s old home at Crystal Lake. Chris’s old flame Rick (Paul Kratka) is waiting for them at the cabin. The problem with Chris is that she was at Crystal Lake two years prior where she had an encounter with Jason. She managed to survive the attack, yet this has haunted her over the last two years. Going back to Camp Crystal Lake is a way for her to face her fears as this has haunted her every day since her encounter with Jason. There are a few other couples along for the ride, with one set being hippies, and they bring some comic relief. One of her friends, Shelly (Larry Zerner) is the reason why Jason dons the famous hockey mask.

Part 3 continues right after the events from the second film as Jason has just murdered a group of teenagers. The local police are going to the scene and they are passed by Chris and her friends. The killings begin one-by-one as Jason takes Chris’s friends in some very gruesome ways. The problem here is that some of the kills lack some punch since they are designed for 3-D if you are watching the standard edition. The best one is when Jason gets the hockey mask from Shelly and he uses a spear gun to kill one of the girls. Then add the biker gang in the mix that Shelly and his blind date have an encounter with at the convenience store. They come to the camp later in the film to extract revenge, but little do they know about the terror that waits for them in the barn.

While this third film in the franchise is not the worst, there are some apparent issues with the story and the direction of the film. This third entry is nowhere near as good as the first two films and the subsequent three films in the series. I have always found that the third, seventh, eighth, and tenth films in the series were the weakest of the sequels. While the tenth film had some high hopes by a planned trilogy, all that fell apart. The acting in Part 3 isn’t that great and has to be some of the worst in the series. It is campy horror, so I will still enjoy each ‘Friday The 13th’ for what it has to offer.Movie Content: 7/10

Print/Audio Quality

The print is presented in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This film doesn’t look anywhere as good as the first two films do on Blu-ray. I was a bit disappointed due to a higher budget. The 3-D has a lot to do with the image looking muddy. The muddy look is also apparent in the standard version of the film. There is quite a bit of grain throughout the presentation, but has been cleaned up a bit from the previous DVD release. I found the color presentation to be on the dull side. This presentation is not going to win any awards, but its the best that we have seen this film on home video.Video Quality: 7/10

The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. Like the previous two ‘Friday the 13′ films on Blu-ray I found the audio mix to be very similar. ‘Friday the 13th’ franchise relies on the score to build tension and atmosphere. The film’s soundtrack is more front heavy, but Paramount has done an excellent job in getting some usage out of the rears. This allows for that great score and the effects to be heard in the rears. Dialogue is clean and crisp through the center channel.Audio Quality: 8/10

Special Features

Fresh Cuts: 3D Terror [HD]

Legacy of the Mask [HD]

Slasher Films: Going for the Jugular [HD]

Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 3 [HD]

Theatrical Trailer [HD]

All special features are presented in high definition and this release trumps the previous DVD release just a few months ago which had no special features.

Special Features: 9/10

Final Thoughts

‘Friday The 13th Part 3’ comes to Blu-ray finally with its 3-D presentation intact. This will make longtime fans that have been waiting for this film in 3-D to view in their own homes in high definition. The picture quality is a tad disappointing provide it that this film is in 3-D. The presence of special features for the film on Blu-ray and in high definition is excellent considering that the DVD Deluxe Edition had no special features. For fans of the franchise this is a sure fire purchase.Overall Rating: 8/10

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